The Light of Life
by Zennaa
Summary: Hikari is a 14 year old girl who has 2 strange abilities - she can teleport and become invisible. She has spent the last year locked up in Team Rocket HQ, being forced to use her powers for their evil work. But she has now escaped, and with the help of a stray Charmander, will she be able to stop Team Rocket in their tracks? Rated for violence in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**The Light of Life - chapter 1**

**I DO NOT OWN POKEMON. IF I DID, MISTY WOULD HAVE STAYED.**

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Hikari strolled through the forest, hoping to soon reach Celadon city. She smiled as she heard the flock of Spearow flying past and the pokemon playing in amongst the trees. She liked the sounds of nature. It was one of the thing that she had really missed while she had been trapped in theTeam Rocket HQ. But now, she was free at last - for the meantime at least. Giovanni had sent many grunts out to search, but they would never find her. Whenever they were near, she would just turn herself invisible, and voila, the Rockets would be clueless as to where she was.

However, there were times when this would not be enough to disguise her, and so she would be forced to use almost all her energy to teleport herself away. Hikari absolutely hated teleporting - she once had to lie down on the wet ground for what felt like an hour before gaining enough strength to walk. Well, hopefully that wouldn't happen again soon. Team Rocket members had been absent from her life for quite a while now, and she didn't want that to change any time soon.

Hikari suddenly ceased walking, as straight ahead in her line of sight was Celadon city!

'Finally I'm here! I hope there's somewhere to eat, I'm starved!' she thought.

The 14 year old brunette girl began to briskly walk the small remainder of distance between her and a place to rest, when something caught the corner of her eye. It was a Charmander, and the poor thing was hurt! It was covered in bruises and it was limping.

"Hey little guy, do you need to go to the Pokemon Centre?" she asked in a soothing tone.

"Mander char. Charmander char..." (Yes please. My leg hurts...) Charmander replied, nodding. Hikari picked the Charmander up and ran to Celadon city as fast as her legs could carry her. She was tired, but with a determined look on her face, she ran through the city and to the Pokemon Centre.

Nurse Joy turned around just as Hikari burst through the door, and gasped as she saw the state of the Charmander she carried in her arms.

"What happened?!" Joy asked.

"I don't know, I just found him like this, but please, help him!" Hikari replied. Joy nodded and took the weak Pokemon and took it through a door. However, when Hikari tried to follow, a Chansey blocked the way.

"Please, let me through!" she pleaded, but Chansey stood firm. Sighing, she went and took a seat. It was going to be a long wait.

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**Sorry for the short chapter! I promise the next ones will be longer. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Light of Life chapter 2**

**I DO NOT OWN POKEMON. IF I DID, I WOULD BE A MILLIONAIRE.**

Hikari sighed. Was Charmander okay? She hoped so. Was he scared? She hoped not. She had already seen enough injured pokemon at the Rocket HQ to last her a lifetime, and knew that some of the ones that were hurt like Charmander didn't make it. But there was still a flicker of hope, if small, inside her that believed he would walk out of that door soon and have not one thing wrong with him.

Suddenly, Hikari was snapped out of her thoughts when Nurse Joy walked through the door. Hikari smiled - this could be Joy coming to tell her that Charmander was fine! However, her smile soon faded when she saw the solemn expression on the Nurse's face. The hope stayed though. Maybe Joy was coming to talk to someone else? Maybe Hikari had just read her expression wrong? But the pink clad nurse was heading towards her, and before she had time to think, Joy was speaking to her.

"I'm afraid... Charmander is in a coma. We don't know when he's going to wake up." There was tears in Joy's eyes as she watched the girl's face crumple as tears streamed down her face. No matter how many times she told people bad news, she never got used to their reactions.

"Can I.. Can I see him?" Hikari asked.

"Of course you can," Joy smiled warmly. Hikari smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. She followed the nurse as they walked through the Pokemon Centre ward until they stopped and Joy led her through a door. Behind that door lay Charmander. He had many bandages on and was hooked up to a heart-rate monitor and an IV machine. The tears on her face became a mix of joy and sadness. Joy because he was still alive; sadness because there was no way of knowing when he would wake up. She went an sat on the chair next to him as Joy gave her an apologetic expression and left the room. Hikari wasn't quite sure why Joy would be apologising. It's not like she did anything wrong. It wasn't her fault that Charmander had been hurt. In fact, if only Hikari had got here faster, then Charmander might of made it. Since there was nobody else who could take the blame, she would. She laid her head on the side of the bed and closed her eyes, thinking of who would've done this. Team Rocket were the first people who came to mind, but they were nowhere near Celadon city right now. Very soon, Hikari drifted off into sleep, where there was no Team Rocket, no injured Pokemon, and most of all, her friends and family.

Hikari looked around. She appeared to be in her old bedroom, in her old house - which meant she was with her family! But then, she realised that this was all a dream. One of her more common abilities was lucid dreaming. Most of the time, she knew that she was dreaming, and if she was having a nightmare, she would change it into a nice dream. Nice dreams would consist of her playing with her friends, chatting with her mum and dad or starting her pokemon journey and choosing her starter. She didn't want to go into what Team Rocket had done to her Squirtle. Long story short, she was never going to see her again.

The brunette stood up and ran downstairs to see her mum preparing breakfast for the family. Smells of bacon and eggs filled the air. Hikari breathed in and smiled at the scent that filled her nose. This is what she really missed now she was on her own... Her mum came over and laid three plates down on the table as Hikari came and sat down, hugging her mother as a way of saying thank you for the food, but was confused when her hands felt as if they were burning...

Hikari's eyes flew wide open as she moved her hands away from the source of heat, but froze when she saw what it was. Charmander! He was sat in front of the girl, smiling at her. The tubes that had previously been attached to him had been torn off. The smile on Hikari's face was most likely the largest one in the history of the world. She flung her arms around the small fire pokemon, and Charmander hugged her back.

'What if this Charmander was supposed to be my starter?' she thought. Although Squirtle would always be in her heart, she did need a pokemon not only for self-defence, but also for a friend. She hadn't had a proper conversation in what could possibly have been years.

"Hey Charmander?" she said while still hugging the pokemon.

"Char?"(Yes?) replied Charmander. He hoped this would be the question he had been waiting for for so long.

"What do you say to becoming one of my pokemon?" Hiakri held her breath and pulled out of hug to take out a pokeball. She held it out to the orange pokemon. Charmander looked at the pokeball, then to her, before giving a happy "Charmander!"(Of course!) and touching his hand to the capsule. There was a glowing red beam, and Charmander was inside the pokeball. It felt like luxury to him, though at the same time it was also very strange. He could see outside, but he knew that obviously nobody on the outside could see him. How did that work? He didn't really care right now. All he wanted to do was sit back and relax.

Hikari looked down at the pokeball which now held Charmander and smiled. She knew she was going to have to explain her situation to her newly caught pokemon sometime, but now she was so happy. This was her first pokemon since escaping the Rocket base!

She thought. Maybe she should start gym battles again? If she became more popular and was captured again, her dissapearance would get more attention. Last time, her family had been told she was dead. Her father had killed himself, thinking it was his fault for what had happened. Giovanni had reminded her of this many times, which caused her so much pain. She didn't dare go back home now. She had been gone for so long, most people had probably forgotten about her. If she were to venture into the village, people would never believe she was the real Hikari. Her mum may even end up committing suicide if she thought people were begining to fake being her. She just wouldn't be able to deal with that.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Nurse Joy came in. She was puzzled when she saw that Charmander was absent, but a look of reallisation came to her face when she saw the pokeball that the 14 year old was looking at endearingly. Hikari looked to Joy, who smiled at her, then said;

"I'm glad to see that Charmander is awake! I'll just give him a quick check-up , and if he is fine then you two may leave." Hikari let Charmander out of the pokeball. The nurse checked him, and then gave the all clear. Hikari smiled and hugged Charmander, then thanked Nurse Joy before walking happily out of the Pokemon Centre and into the streets of Celadon.


End file.
